What Austin Peay coach Scotty Walden said about facing Tennessee, preparing for Vols

Austin Peay football coach Scotty Walden was a guest on WNML 99.1-FM The Sports Animal in Knoxville this week, previewing his Governors (0-1) playing at Tennessee (1-0) on Saturday (5 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+/SEC Network+) at Neyland Stadium.

Here’s what Walden said about the Vols and the challenge presented by Josh Heupel’s team during the radio interview:

What he has seen when studying film of Tennessee

“Number one, they play extremely hard. I mean, everybody talks about the offense and certainly deservedly so, Coach Heupel, while I’ve met him a couple of times, we’re not just really close. We know some mutual people and we come kind of off a similar offensive branch, if you will. We have a lot of similar offensive philosophy, so I really obviously respect what those guys do on offense. But I’ll tell you what, when you look holistically as a team and you watch them on special teams, you watch them on defense and everything, they play extremely hard. And that was one thing that stuck out to me studying them. Breaking it down on defense was not just the schematics, but those kids play really hard, run to the football. And it’s been really impressive to see what Coach Heupel and his staff have done. Especially given the time that they took over Tennessee and everything going on, to get it to where it is now. It was really impressive to watch and a ton of respect for, for Coach Heupel and staff in that program.

What it means for Austin Peay players to play at Tennessee, at a venue like Neyland Stadium and how it can help the Governors entering conference play

“I think it means a lot to our guys. I think their mindset going into games like this is really important. We’ve set that precedent in our three years here. Played Ole Miss, Alabama, Western Kentucky. Whenever you play up, I think that the biggest thing is you gotta win the mental battle first. And it’s understanding that we’re not to lose a game. We’re preparing to go freaking win a game. We’re preparing to go compete, to win and put our best foot forward. And play to earn respect. And I think that’s what’s important. Not looking at it as an off week or, all right, we know what this game’s about, the money game. We don’t view it like that and our kids don’t view it like that. They want to go in there, they want to win, they want to have success. 

The opportunity this kind of game is for Austin Peay

“And we want to look at it as an opportunity to get the Austin Peay Governor brand out there and show people what our program is about. And we get to do that on a national scale and what it means for our kids. I grew up in the state of Texas and I can tell you this, I would’ve killed to get to play down there in Austin, Texas, at the University of Texas. Or got to play in College Station there at Texas A&M … we have 38 players from the state of Tennessee, and those guys, they grew up dreaming of playing in Neyland Stadium. So it’s an awesome, awesome opportunity for them and their families to get to play in such an environment.

Facing Tennessee and coaching at Neyland Stadium

“My first SEC game I ever coached, or coached against an SEC school was was at Tennessee. I was at Southern Miss, and I’ll never forget, our defensive coordinator at the time was like, hey, just pregame, go out there and take a deep breath and look around for about 30 seconds and just don’t coach yet. Just take it all in. And I’m like, what do you mean? And I’ll never forget, I ran out of that tunnel, those gates opened up and I was like, oh, holy crap. I was like, man, what a great atmosphere this is. I just sat there and soaked it in and it just put things in perspective like, man, what a blessing to get to coach this game and get opportunities like this. And so I definitely want to go approach this game — and I think our players already are — with a heart of gratitude and, then go attack it and cut it loose. And have fun and go compete.”